Meridians in question.

Housing crisis, crime in San Bernardino complex
By Jason Pesick on September 11, 2008 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
At the western edge of San Bernardino, a cluster of apartments known as The Meridians are but one example of a place where crime and the foreclosure crisis live.

The Meridians sit near the crossing of Fifth Street and Meridian Avenue, near the city's boundary with Rialto. Tenants live in a neighborhood where graffiti is a common sight and plywood sheets cover doors and windows. They also live with the uncertainty of what's going to happen next.

"A lot of people are scared that they're going to end up on the street," said Meridians resident Lucy Mayoral.
Tenants at the Meridians are not alone in being concerned about the complex. City and redevelopment officials have decided the neighborhood has so many problems -- including high crime -- that the best thing to do with the apartments is to tear them down and start over.

"It's been a drain on the community for a long time," said 6th Ward Councilman Rikke Van Johnson, who represents the area.

Johnson said that during the 1970s he worked at a convenience store near The Meridians. Back then, Johnson said, the neighborhood was a decent place to live or visit for a party.

Now, he says razing the complexes would be a bonus for the surrounding community.

On Thursday, during a meeting of the city's Operation Phoenix steering committee, Mayor Pat Morris and Carey Jenkins of the San Bernardino Economic Development Agency both touched on troubles at the Meridians and broader housing issues among the current wave of foreclosures.

Jenkins, the EDA's housing and community development director, said at a meeting today of the Operation Phoenix steering committee, that the agency has plans to purchase and redevelop The Meridians.

Replacing the apartments with something else -- Johnson said he favors single-family housing -- would require the EDA to buy the land, prepare a plan to help current tenants relocate, demolish the complexes and find a developer to build something new.

Meridians resident Tony Scoot said he can accept the prospect of moving, but wants to be sure officials come through on their obligations to help people relocate.

"It wouldn't be a big problem for me, but you've got other people who are single parents who can't just get up and move," he said.

In terms of relocation, Johnson said officials will be able draw upon the same fund used to aid people who were forced to move by redevelopment of the Arden-Guthrie area.

The work could cost about $6 million, Jenkins said. That's almost half of what the expected bill was in March, but real estate prices have tumbled since then.

Across San Bernardino, there have been nearly 1,600 foreclosure events between Aug. 2007 and Aug. 2008, Jenkins said.

Jenkins said a broad EDA strategy intended to cope with foreclosures will be presented to the City Council soon. A vote of the council, acting as the Community Development Commission, on whether to move forward with plans for The Meridians is scheduled for Monday.

Boy, this is the San Bernardino's way of solving ALL problems in this city. Bulldoze the neighborhood and get rid of the problem entirely. Lets not focus on how to really solve a problem with a humane solution, lets go in there and literally destroy the problem!!

It's ridiculous.

NYTE RYDA wrote:Boy, this is the San Bernardino's way of solving ALL problems in this city. Bulldoze the neighborhood and get rid of the problem entirely. Lets not focus on how to really solve a problem with a humane solution, lets go in there and literally destroy the problem!!

It's ridiculous.

RYDA, I know we had discussed this before, but what could we do to solve this problem (drugs, gangs, crime so on) ? I don't think we could completely stop the problem, more realistically just slow it down.
Education, tutoring, after school activities, kick/boxing, mixed martial arts, hands on job training, Sporting events held in the evening and weekends to keep these youngsters busy. I know there is no funding for these programs, but I'm just throwing some suggestions out there.

I know for job training there is ROP, but there are a lot of kids out there that don't like going to school, and I think you need a referral to enroll in ROP. There is boxing gyms out there for the youths and young adults. But as for the MMA, those gyms charge too much money. Especially for the people that are coming from the varrio/hood.

and they still wonder why there expensive condos are not selling cause they are making too many expensive condos when california is really in need for affordable housing and they still wonder why there are so many families in the street governments are a joke and government leaders do not care about residents in there cities at all all they care about is making more na more money$$$$$ so fuck the city governments and fuck george bush this is not how you solve problems you solve problems by helping the people in your community not by leaving them without a home and being trigger happy with the young ones the people make the city not some lazy corupt congress people I think that racism even has something to do in this because this complex is majority hispanics and blacks how come they don't do this to apartments that are ven more run down somewhere in hick land where there is nothing but trashy rednecks

~OSO~ wrote:

NYTE RYDA wrote:Boy, this is the San Bernardino's way of solving ALL problems in this city. Bulldoze the neighborhood and get rid of the problem entirely. Lets not focus on how to really solve a problem with a humane solution, lets go in there and literally destroy the problem!!

It's ridiculous.

RYDA, I know we had discussed this before, but what could we do to solve this problem (drugs, gangs, crime so on) ? I don't think we could completely stop the problem, more realistically just slow it down.
Education, tutoring, after school activities, kick/boxing, mixed martial arts, hands on job training, Sporting events held in the evening and weekends to keep these youngsters busy. I know there is no funding for these programs, but I'm just throwing some suggestions out there.

I know for job training there is ROP, but there are a lot of kids out there that don't like going to school, and I think you need a referral to enroll in ROP. There is boxing gyms out there for the youths and young adults. But as for the MMA, those gyms charge too much money. Especially for the people that are coming from the varrio/hood.

I just caught this comment by you OSO. I don't think anybody has a definite answer to stop the unnecessary problems that go on in the lower income black and latino neighborhoods, besides divine intervention, I just can't see anything negative that goes on to ever cease. But I do believe there is plenty of humane ways to improve the quality of life of the neighborhoods. Instead of bringing on the Police to control or frequent the areas in mass quantities, unnecessary gentrification, lack luster so called community operation programs etc.. as is the usual procedures, the city officials should actually listen to those that actually live there day to day lives in these areas. How about letting an older and respectable figure from the community who knows the in's and outs of it all get a hand in the mix?? Let someone from the community that knows the hurt of the area from actual experience start getting involved.

I would hate to see them go because it reminds of alot of stuff and people I knew that lived there. I feel like alot of stuff I grew up around is being taken out.